While there are plenty of big name death metal releases so far in 2007, (Nile, Behemoth, Immolation, etc) there’s one release that might slip under the radar but easily deserves your ear (as with Sarpanitum)-that is this debut full length record from Quebec’s Vengeful. Touted for fans of Crytopsy, Nile, Immolation and Gorguts, the band’s […]

Recently I have received a few atypical, sludgy hardcore releases from the likes of Protestant, The Dead See, The Fucking Wrath, Daymares and Florida’s own Christian two steppers, Seventh Star, who with The Undisputed Truth have given Facedown Records two killer Christian hardcore records in the first half of 2007 (The other being Sleeping Giant). […]

When it comes to the title of musician/producer/leader, Steve Wilson tops the cake. While there may be plenty of other people that do the same thing, Devin Towsend for example, Wilson is probably one of the more accomplished men in music today. If you don’t agree with that, I invite you to take a journey […]

The days of true innovators are nearly over with. Sure, on occasion, a band comes along that really is completely fresh sounding and new, but those times are becoming fewer and farer in between. This is an opinion I’ve come to over time, after hearing band after band that sound like this band, this band […]

Someone at Century Media has some balls releasing Behemoth’s newest opus on the same day as Nile’s Ithyphallic, especially considering Nile started to surface as a reference for Behemoth’s last, slightly disappointing effort, Demigod. Well, Century Media must have known what they had here-an album that better than Demigod as almost as good as the […]

Shining is not new to extreme metal fans. They have been trying to get lots of attention over the past year. I guess they felt some people just didn’t understand, so they changed the name of their web page from suicidesquadron to shiningangst, and if that wasn’t obvious enough, they sent out fake press release […]

Here comes the release at the top of the death camp docket for 2007. Egyptian necro’s Nile, have once again cooked up a set of impressive tunes for our ears to bleed over. The only thing more stunning to me than Sander’s and companies talent, is the fact that they manage to finagle their way […]

Believe it or don’t, my lovelies, but I’m a man of some idiosyncrasy. I sleep butt naked except for my wristwatch, which I only remove to shower. I have never worn – will never wear – a green shirt. And I only eat one dish per meal. Which is to say, I’ll make a meal […]

To see a band continue to grow and find their niche is something quite extraordinary. It’s like watching a child grow. What is even more stunning is to see this revolution come out of left field and totally catch you by surprise. This is exactly what Finnish ringleaders Mors Principium Est have done over the […]

Here’s another of Candlelight’s deathcore records licensed from the UK’s excellent Siege of Amida’s records (Diskreet, Whitechapel, The Partisan Turbine and Knights of the Abyss), and while not the best release or most original album either label will release this year, it’s a competent and confident record of snarling, breakdown heavy deathcore. The formula is […]

As if to wet your appetite for the forth coming The Red Album from Baroness, At A Loss has teamed the rather hyped sludgy/stoner post rock act with a fellow Georgia act Unpersons to give you this tasty split of fuzzy, groovy and experimental sludge/stoner metal. The two lengthy tracks from Baroness will no doubt […]

First, a big effin’ “eff you” to Relapse for not including the lyrics with this promo. True, most extreme music lyrics are patent mush, but JR Hayes’ poetry is an essential part of the PD experience. Anyhoo… I’ve always wondered how some (very few) bands can actually recreate and express emotion in their songs while […]

Three quality releases all on Folter Records, which is why I picked up the first one, Folter has never let me down, one of the few labels where you don’t have to worry about listening first. Strijd was high quality black metal, high pitched shrieks, corpsepaint and swords, and all lyrics in Dutch. Verwoesting/Devastation was […]

What’s the deal with everyone wanting to be compared to Testament recently? I like Testament as much as anyone who grew up on ’80s thrash, but I must have gotten at least a half-dozen records in the last month with quotes like “This is Testament for a new generation of thrash,” etc. For a band […]

North Carolina’s purveyor’s of Doomy, Sludge-filled goodness return on Southern Lord with their own brand of organized noise (self-dubbed “Weed Metal”). The music on this record sounds like a leaky riverboat drifting down a muddy river. You can see a big storm looming over the tree tops in the distance. The smells of stagnant water, […]

In my humble opinion, Fall of the Leafe are one of metal’s underappreciated gems, even with the slight misstep of Volvere, Fermina and Vantage remain two of the best unheard album in the dark rock, Goth rock, hard rock genre (and their early work remains some of the best Goth/death metal around). And while most […]

Finland’s prolific, premier folk rocker return with album number four and after teasing me with three albums of superb folkish, pub rock littered with buzz killing somber moments, the forest clan have finally unleashed the ultimate, feel good, forest rock, beer swilling, sylph moshing fun fest. As I mentioned, Korpiklaani’s last three albums were a […]

Bullet belts. Combat boots. Leather. Stone washed jeans – Reanimator’s debut EP Thrashin’ the Neighborhood reeks of these things from the moment you push play. Pure, unadulterated ‘80’s thrash metal, and more specifically, the Bay area style. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were listening to a thrash album from that time […]

Does anyone really care that Six Feet Under has released their seventh (original) album earlier this year? Apparently not; I didn’t get the usual hype from Metal Blade’s PR folks, just a discreet, late single package with little fanfare and I never saw much press online or in print concerning Commandent and I figured it […]

Stomp on the accelerator and don’t let up – judging from the sounds emanating from my speakers, I’d have to guess this is the band motto for Canadian thrashers Shatterpoint. Dead Precedence is the band’s first full length album, following their 2005 EP Consequences, which is also included here as a bonus at the tail […]

Ok dudes, grab your beer bongs because Municipal Waste is here to ensure they get plenty of use! Unloading like a mutated hybrid of DRI, Exodus & Andrew WK, Municipal Waste bring the Thrash Party complete with shouted gang choruses, plenty of fast tempos and riff-tastic guitars all in a cloud of stale sweat & […]

It’s been a while since I heard a great, traditional metalcore record (Life In Your Way’s Waking Giants is the last really great pure metalcore record I enjoyed). With so many bands either trying the death, grind or pop up their sound or just try too hard to be zany and different, its seems, actual […]

My apologies to the readership here, but things are going to be a bit ‘core’ for a while as I wade through my considerable pile of angry young men trying their hand at various offshoots of hardcore and metalcore, not to worry though Nile and Gorefest reviews are coming shortly. LA’s The Orangeburg Massacre are […]

I really wanted to like this album due to the killer artwork and card digipack it came in, however Seattle’s The Assailant are no more than another drop in the ‘caustic math metal, screamo, spazz-core with a bit of experimentation’ ocean. With the press sheet dropping words like Botch, pg 99 and Fugazi, the 8 […]

With former members of Confine, Grade, and SeventyEightDays, you’d expect Ontario’s To The Lions to be a well oiled, conviction fueled hardcore machine, and you’d be right. Mostly mid tempo, chunky, fluff free, passionate urgent hardcore rooted on the early 90’s scene (i.e. Integrity, Earth Crisis, Ringworm, Bloodlet, Turmoil) is the forte of To The […]